band formed in Colchester in 1989. Originally named "Seymour", Blur became one of the biggest bands in the UK during the Britpop movement of the mid–1990s.[1] The band are currently comprised of vocalist/keyboardist Damon Albarn, drummer Dave Rowntree and bassist Alex James.

Blur's original influences on their debut album, Leisure (1991), included contemporary British alternative rock trends such as Madchester and shoegazing. Following a stylistic change in the mid–1990s, influenced by 1960s English pop groups such as The Kinks and The Beatles, the band released Modern Life is Rubbish (1993), Parklife (1994) and The Great Escape (1995). As a result, the band helped to popularise the Britpop genre and achieved mass popularity in the UK, aided by a famous chart battle with Britpop rivals Oasis.

By the late 1990s, with the release of their fifth album, Blur (1997), the band underwent another reinvention, influenced by the indie rock and lo–fi style of American bands such as Pavement and R.E.M., in the process gaining an elusive American success with the single "Song 2". The final album featuring the band's original lineup, 13 (1999), found Blur experimenting with electronica and gospel music